Rail-joint



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y W. ROBINSON.

- RAIL JOINT.

No. 576,795. Patented Feb. 9, 1897.

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RAIL JOINT Patented Feb-,9

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WITNESSES:

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'W. ROBINSON. RAIL. JOINT- WITNESS-E5; INVEN UR,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ROBINSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,7 93, dated February 9, 1897.

A li atio fil d October 7, 1893. Serial No. 487,530. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new, useful, and Improved Rail-Joint, of which the following is a specification.

It has been found heretofore that rail-j oints willnot stand up under the continuous pounding of electric cars. Attempts have been made to overcome this difficulty by making the rails much deeper and heavier than formerly, but this only retards, in a moderate degree, the destructive process. A great increase in the weight of the rails only palliates, but does not remove, the evil.

So far as I am aware there has been no radical departure in the design and construction of the rail-joint since the advent of the joint-destroying electric-motor car, and the rapid destruction of the joints continues as an immense expense to the railway companies. To obviate these evils and to provide a rail-joint that will stand up under the destructive pounding of railway-cars, especially electric-motor cars, is the object of this invention.

The nature of my invention will be clearly understood from the description which fol lows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, in which' Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a part of a railroad-rail, illustrating the first step in the development of my rail-joint. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a rail, showing the second step inthe development of my rail-joint; and Fig. at is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a rail, embodying the first and second steps together in connection with one rail; and Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 7 is a duplication of Fig. 5 on the opposite end of the rail, or, preferably, for my purpose, as shown, on the end of the rail adjacent and corresponding to that shown in Fig. 5; andFig. 8 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing the rail ends illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7 brought together and clamped, showing a complete joint; and Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the bar differing in form from that shown in the preceding figures. Figs. 15 and 16 show'the fish-bar and girder illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 as formed in one piece; and Figs. 17 and 18 show the fish-bar and girder illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 as formed in one piece. Figs. 19 and 20 show the rail ends illustrated in Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 18 brought together and bolted, forming a complete joint. Figs. 21 and 22 show a construction in which the joint-- plates differ slightly in form from those shown in the preceding figures. Figs. 19, 20, 21, and 22 also show the joint-plates provided with feet or angles to form a bearing to support the rail-joints on the ties. Figs. 13 and 14 show a form whichmay be used effectively on double-track roads when cars or trains are to be run in only one direction.

A is a railroad-rail, to the bottom of which the girder-plate B is rigidly secured, preferably by the electric-welding process. The girder B, as shown in the drawings, has one half its length welded to the bottom of the rail A, the other half projecting beyond the end of said rail. The girder B is made preferably with a deep vertical web, giving strength to support the rails at the joint, and having its upper edge made in the form of an angle, as shown at a. The upper surface of this angle part forms a good gearing for the welding and support of the under surface of the rails. The inner surface I) of the girder B extends quite or nearly up to the vertical center line of the web 0 of the rail A, as illustrated in Fig. 2 and other figures. To further enhance the efliciency of the joint, the fish-plate O is welded to the side of the rail A, as shown, one end of said fish-plate being welded in the side groove of the rail and the other end projecting beyond the end of the rail, all as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:.

Figs. 5 and 6 show the railAwith the girder B and the fish-plate O welded thereto, as described.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the rail A has the girder B and the fish-plate Cwelded thereto, as described in connection with Figs. 5 and 6.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 7 and 8 differs from that shown in Figs. 5 and 6 only ing lug cl, and the girder-plate 13 has its inner end similarly provided with the inwardlyprojectinglug 6. Thus when the joint is completed, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the extreme outer or free end of the girder-plate B is supported by the lug on the inner end of the girder-plate l5, and in like manner the outer or free end of the girder-plate B is supported by the lug d on the inner end of the girder-plate B. Thus each rail is supported close to the joint by the girder-plate welded to the adjacent rail, and each rail, in addition. is supported, through the girder-plate welded thereto, by the lug at the extreme inner end of the girder-plate welded to the adjacent rail, that is, each rail is supported far beyond its outer end by the lug on the inner end of the girder-plate welded to the adjacent rail. This, it will be seen, forms a locked joint I which in itself gives an enormous support to the ends of both rails.

It will be observed that the holes in the rails and plates, as far as necessary, are made oblong, in the usual way, to provide for the expansion and contraction of the rails.

In Figs. 11 and 12 the clamps or plates D E consist of the side or fish plates C 0, provided with extension-girders a I), which form a part of the plates 0 C, and extending downwardly clamp over the girders B B, thus enhancing the strength of the latter, all as clearly illustrated in Fig. 12.

Figs. 15 and 16 show the plate D as composed of the fish-plate C and the girder-plate 13 (illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6) joined together and forming one single plate. In like manner Figs. 17 and 18 show the plate E as composed of the fish-plate O and the girderplate 13 (illustrated in Figs. 7 and S) joined together and forming one single plate.

The combination-plates D and E are welded to the sides and bottoms of the rails A and B respectively.

Figs. 19 and 20 show the rails A and B with their joint-plates D and E brought together and bolted and forming a complete joint.

Figs. 21 and 22 show a joint the same as that illustrated in Figs. 19 and 20, except that the j oint-plates D I? bulge outwardlyin their lower or girder part, as shown at ef. This permits the bolts g to draw said plates together with an elastic lockinggrip. To keep said plates apart at the bottom, I provide them with the projections h, z, and 7t, coming between the plates, as shown.

Figs. 19, 20, 21, and show the girderplates provided with outwardly-projecting feet or angles Zm, which rest on the ties u 0 1), thus forming a broad bearing either under, as shown in Fig. 19, or on each side of the ends of the rails, as shown in Fig. 21.

By thus supporting the deep girders under the rails on a broad base the rails of course are kept in an upright and equally-well-supported position.

The feet Z m may be secured to the girderplates in any suitable manner, for instance, by welding or riveting; but I prefer to make them a part of the girder-plate itself in rolling the latter.

hen itis found in rolling the girder-plates ll that said plates can be more economically provided with the feet Z on by rolling said girder as an angle-bar, the feet Z m, extending the whole length of said bar, then I prefer to roll the girder-plates in that way.

Figs. 13 and 1t showasimplc form of girder suitable for use in certain cases. In this case the girder 13* is made in cross-section, preferably in the from of a T-iron, and is welded to the bottom of the rail. A, as shown. The rail A is shown as about to come into place, resting on the upper surface of the T-shaped girder 13*. The clamp-plates shown in Figs. 11 and 22 are very suitable for use in co1npleting this joint. On a double-track road, where cars run in only one direction, say in I the direction indicated by the arrow 00, this form of joint is suitable, for the reason that when the wheels pass from the railA to the rail A they are still supported at the joint by the girder'plate B, that is, by the rail A.

I have described the girder 13 as welded to the bottom of the rail. This method I prefer when practicable; but in some cases, as, for

instance, in the ease of old rails on the road, it may not be convenient or practicable to weld the girder to the bottom of the rail. In such a case the girder may be riveted to the bottom of the rail by rivets passing through the flanges of the rail and of the girder. As an illustration, referring to Figs. 13 and 14, a very good joint may be made by making the girder 13* of a piece of old rail inverted and riveting the flanges of the rail A* and the old rail together. I11 like manner the fish-plate C may have one end secured to the rail A by riveting instead of by welding, when the riveting, for any reason is found preferable, the other end of said plate 0 being secured to the adjacent rail A by bolting or clamping, as described.

I do not herein claim, broadly, in a railjoint provided with a girder-plate having one end permanently secured to the bottom of one rail and the other end extending under and supporting the adjacent rail, the location of said girder-plate to one side of the longitudinal center line of the rail such a distance as to leave space between said center line and the vertical surface of said plate, since I claim ICC IIS

this, substantially, in my application for a patent for a rail-joint, filed November 14,1894, Serial No. 528,715.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is l 1. In a rail-joint, the combination, substantially as described, of two adjacent rails each provided With a girder or truss plate arranged Wholly beneath said rails and having one end integrally secured to the bottom of said rail and the opposite end extending under and supporting the adjacent rail, whereby each rail is caused to support and hold the abutting rail in perfect horizontal alinement at the joint.

2. In a rail-joint, the combination, substantially as described, of two adjacent rails each provided with a girder or truss plate arranged wholly beneath said rails and having one end permanently secured to the bottom of said rail and the opposite end extending under, and supporting, the adjacent rail, said girderplates being arranged to be detachably secured together,

In a rail-joint, the combination, substantially as described, of two adjacent rails, each I provided with a girder or truss plate having one end permanently secured to the bottom of said rail and the opposite end extending under, and supporting, the adjacent rail, each of said girder-plates being provided, on its inner end, with a ing or projection arranged to support the outer end of the girder secured to the adjacent rail.

4. In a rail-joint, a girder or truss plate having one end permanently secured to the bottom of one rail and the other end adapted to detachably support the adjacent rail, said plate being provided with outwardly-projecting feet or angles forming a bearing to support said girder-plate and rail on the ties, substantially as described.

5. A rail-joint consisting essentially of the following elements: two adjacent rails each provided with a truss-plate having one end permanently secured to the bottom of said rail and the other end extending under and supporting the other rail, and two fish-plates fitting into sidegrooves of the rails, said rails, through their respective truss and fish plates, being detachably secured together, substantially as described.

6. A rail-joint consisting, essentially, of the following elements: two adjacent rails, each provided with a truss-plate having one end permanently secured to the bottom of said rail and the other end extending under and supporting, the other rail, said girder-plates interlocking and supporting each other, and two fish-plates, each rail being provided with one having one end permanently secured to the side of said rail and the other end overlapping the adjacent rail, said rails, through their respective fish-plates and truss-plates, being arranged to be detachably secured together, substantially as described.

7. In a rail-joint, the combination of two abutting rails, each provided with a bottom plate having one end permanently secured thereto and the opposite end extending under and detachably supporting, the adjacent rail, said bottom plates being provided with lugs or extensions adapted to determine the rela tive positions of said bottom plates, substantially as described.

YVILLIAM ROBINSON.

' lVitnesses J AS. W. RIPLEY,

, S. G. ORoswELL. 

